Humankind has within its grasp the power to synthesize true artificial life, according to the managing director of Britain's Cyberlife Research Ltd., Steve Grand. A leading exponent of artificial life and the creator of Creatures, a groundbreaking computer game that actually uses electronic artificial life, Grand provides this guided tour of the frontiers of this burgeoning new creation. He surveys what has been achieved so far and looks at future possibilities for generating autonomous, intelligent, even conscious living things, exploring such questions as what is life? What should the minds, brains, and bodies of these new life forms be like? What philosophical guidelines and computational frameworks are necessary? And what are the practical, social, and ethical implications of this research?